Burning Spear | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Winston Godfrey Rodney |
Born | 1 March 1945 |
Genres | Reggae |
Years active | 1969–present |
Labels | Studio One, Island, EMI, Heartbeat, Slash |
Website | www.burningspear.net |
Winston Rodney, OD (born 1 March 1945[1][2]), also known as Burning Spear, is a Jamaican roots reggae singer and musician. Burning Spear is known for his Rastafari movement messages.
Contents |
Rodney was born in Saint Ann's Bay, Saint Ann, Jamaica, as were reggae singer Bob Marley and political activist Marcus Garvey who both had a great influence on Rodney's life: Garvey in his philosophy, which Burning Spear greatly took to, and Marley in directly helping Burning Spear get started in the music industry (by some accounts) by introducing him to Clement Dodd.[3] Rodney met Marley at the latter's farm in 1969, and having told him that he wanted to get into the music business, Marley advised him to start at Dodd's Studio One label.[3][4] Reggae singer Larry Marshall claimed that it was he, while visiting St. Ann's Bay with Jackie Mittoo, who was approached by Rodney, and gave him this advice, and arranged the introduction.[5]
Burning Spear was originally Rodney's group, named after a military award given by Jomo Kenyatta, the first Prime Minister and President of an independent Kenya,[6] and including bass singer Rupert Willington. This duo auditioned for Dodd in 1969, and recorded the debut single "Door Peep".[3] They were joined by tenor Delroy Hinds (brother of Justin Hinds).[3] The trio recorded several more singles for Dodd, and two albums, before they moved on to work with Jack Ruby in 1975.[3] Their first recording with Ruby, "Marcus Garvey", was intended as an exclusive track for Ruby's Ocho Rios-based Hi-Power sound system, but was released as a single, giving them an immediate hit, and was followed by "Slavery Days".[3] These recordings featured the backing band The Black Disciples, which included Earl "Chinna" Smith, Valentine Chin, Robbie Shakespeare and Leroy Wallace.[3] The group worked with Ruby on their third album, Marcus Garvey (1976), which was immediately successful and led to a deal with Island Records to give the album a wider release.[3] Island remixed and altered the speed of some of the tracks, much to the annoyance of fans and the group,[7] leading Rodney to set up his own Spear label for future releases where he would have full control, although further releases followed on Island including a dub album (Garvey's Ghost) and the Man in the Hills album.[3] In late 1976, Rodney split from both Ruby and group members Willington and Hinds, and from that point on used the name Burning Spear for himself alone. Dry and Heavy followed in 1977, self-produced but still on Island, and with a sizeable following by now in the United Kingdom,[7] he performed in London that year with members of Aswad acting as his backing band for a sold-out show at the Rainbow Theatre, which was recorded and released as Live!.[3] Aswad also provided backing on his next studio album, Social Living (1978), which also featured Sly Dunbar and Rico Rodriguez.[3] A dub version of the album, Living Dub (1979), was mixed by Sylvan Morris.[3] His profile was raised further by an appearance in the film Rockers, performing "Jah no Dead".[7]
In 1980, Rodney left Island Records, and set up the Burning Spear label, which he signed to EMI,[7] debuting on the label with Hail H.I.M., recorded at Marley's Tuff Gong studio and co-produced by Aston Barrett.[3] A Sylvan Morris dub version followed in the form of Living Dub Volume Two.[3] In 1982, Rodney signed with Heartbeat Records with a series of well-received albums following, including the 1985 Grammy-nominated Resistance.[3] He returned to Island in the early 1990s, releasing two albums before rejoining Heartbeat.
Burning Spear tours extensively, and several live albums have been issued. His 1999 album, Calling Rastafari brought his first Grammy Award in 2000,[6] a feat which he repeated with Jah Is Real in 2009.[8]
In the mid 1990s, he set up the Burning Music Production company, handling his own bookings, and in 2002, he and his wife, Sonia Rodney who has produced a number of his albums, restarted Burning Spear Records, giving him a greater degree of artistic control.[4][9][10] Since the mid-1990s, he has been based in Queens, New York.[11]
Burning Spear was awarded the Order of Distinction in the rank of Officer on 15 October 2007.[12]
The Track "We Are Going" was featured in cycling documentary "Roam" by The Collective.
Burning Spear has won two Grammy Awards for Best Reggae Album; one at the 42nd Grammy Awards in 2000 for Calling Rastafari, and one for 2009's Jah Is Real. He has been nominated for a total of 12 Grammy Awards.[10][13]
Nominations for Best Reggae Album:
Pure gold is slightly reddish yellow in color, but colored gold in various other colors can be produced.
Colored golds can be classified to three groups:
Pure 100% gold is 24 karat by definition, so all colored golds are less than this, with the common being 18K (75%), 14K (58%), and 9K (38%).
White gold is an alloy of gold and at least one white metal, usually nickel, manganese or palladium. Like yellow gold, the purity of white gold is given in karats.
White gold's properties vary depending on the metals and proportions used. As a result, white gold alloys can be used for many different purposes; while a nickel alloy is hard and strong and therefore good for rings and pins, gold-palladium alloys are soft, pliable and good for white gold gemstone settings, sometimes with other metals like copper, silver, and platinum for weight and durability, although this often requires specialized goldsmiths. The term white gold is used very loosely in the industry to describe karat gold alloys with a whitish hue. It is a common misconception that the color of the rhodium plating, which is seen on many commercial pieces, is actually the color of white gold. The term "white" covers a large spectrum of colors that borders or overlaps pale yellow, tinted brown, and even very pale rose. The jewelry industry often conceals these off-white colors by rhodium plating.
Red gold may refer to:
Red & Gold is a 1988 album by folk rock band Fairport Convention.
The album was released on the Rough Trade label, leading David Fricke, Rolling Stone's reviewer to comment
The title track was written by Ralph McTell, and tells the story of the Battle of Cropredy Bridge, which occurred in 1644 during the English Civil War. The location has strong links with Fairport Convention, being the venue of their annual music festival; the story is told from the perspective of a farm worker, Will Timms, who describes "red and gold" as "royal colours", while the red itself represents the spilled blood of combatants and the gold the wheat fields in which the battle took place.
The album entered the UK album chart on 28 January 1989, spending one week at No. 74.
Marcus Garvey's words come to pass,
Marcus Garvey's words come to pass,
Can't get no food to eat,
Can't get no money to spend, Wo-oo-oo
Can't get no food to eat,
Can't get no money to spend, Woo-oo-oo
Come, little one and let me do what I can do for you
And you and you alone
Come, little one, wo-oo-oo
Let me do what I can do for you and you alone, woo-oo-
He who knows the right thing
And do it not
Shall be spanked with many stripes,
Weeping and wailing and moaning,
You've got yourself to blame, I tell you.
Do right do right do right do right do right,
Tell you to do right, Woo-oo-oo
Beg you to do right, Woo -oo- oo
Where is Bagawire, he's nowhere to be found
He can't be found
First betrayer who gave away Marcus Garvey
Son of St. Ann, First prophesy,
Catch them, Garvey old
Catch them Garvey, catch them Woo-oo-oo
Hold them Marcus, hold them Woo-oo-oo